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Shattered Into Grace: A Memoir of Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery, Faith, and Empowerment
A TBI survivor’s story of faith, recovery, and reclaiming her life in her 20s.
Biomechanical engineering student Nicole Gibson was on the edge of figuring her young life out. With school in motion and promising career prospects ahead, everything shattered when she was struck by an oncoming car—an accident that left her with seven skull fractures and a long road to recovery. Faced with a traumatic brain injury, memory loss, and debilitating injuries, her once-bright future seemed to vanish—until faith stepped in.
In Shattered into Grace, Nicole shares her powerful personal testimony of rebuilding her life after a near-fatal accident. Over the course of a decade, she physically retrained her brain, emotionally rebuilt her confidence, and spiritually awakened her faith. From making painful choices in love to losing her firefighter boyfriend in the line of duty, Nicole explores the messy and often unseen parts of self-discovery after trauma. This transparent Christian memoir gently guides readers through the truth that it’s not perfection but faith that carries us through life’s hardest seasons and leads to an unshakable relationship with God.
Discover:
- What traumatic brain injury recovery really looks like—and the unexpected lessons about surrender, identity, and resilience that transformed how Nicole viewed her body, mind, and worth.
- A raw and unfiltered quest for peace—and how to find a relationship with God in the silence.
- The defining struggles of your turbulent 20s, from chasing love and perfection to learning you’re worthy just as you are.
- What happens when grief compounds and healing isn’t linear—but still entirely possible.
- The messy middle of navigating faith, mental health, loss, and toxic relationships.
More than a brain trauma recovery story, Shattered into Grace is a candid exploration of what it truly takes to rebuild after everything falls apart. From invisible battles with her body and brain to the heartbreak of unexpected loss, Nicole offers a voice to anyone seeking God in the dark. This memoir is a rare guide for readers looking for strength—not in perfection but in presence.
Your story isn’t over. Let Shattered into Grace be your first step toward inner peace, emotional healing, and the salvation only God can provide.
Biomechanical engineering student Nicole Gibson was on the edge of figuring her young life out. With school in motion and promising career prospects ahead, everything shattered when she was struck by an oncoming car—an accident that left her with seven skull fractures and a long road to recovery. Faced with a traumatic brain injury, memory loss, and debilitating injuries, her once-bright future seemed to vanish—until faith stepped in.
In Shattered into Grace, Nicole shares her powerful personal testimony of rebuilding her life after a near-fatal accident. Over the course of a decade, she physically retrained her brain, emotionally rebuilt her confidence, and spiritually awakened her faith. From making painful choices in love to losing her firefighter boyfriend in the line of duty, Nicole explores the messy and often unseen parts of self-discovery after trauma. This transparent Christian memoir gently guides readers through the truth that it’s not perfection but faith that carries us through life’s hardest seasons and leads to an unshakable relationship with God.
Discover:
- What traumatic brain injury recovery really looks like—and the unexpected lessons about surrender, identity, and resilience that transformed how Nicole viewed her body, mind, and worth.
- A raw and unfiltered quest for peace—and how to find a relationship with God in the silence.
- The defining struggles of your turbulent 20s, from chasing love and perfection to learning you’re worthy just as you are.
- What happens when grief compounds and healing isn’t linear—but still entirely possible.
- The messy middle of navigating faith, mental health, loss, and toxic relationships.
More than a brain trauma recovery story, Shattered into Grace is a candid exploration of what it truly takes to rebuild after everything falls apart. From invisible battles with her body and brain to the heartbreak of unexpected loss, Nicole offers a voice to anyone seeking God in the dark. This memoir is a rare guide for readers looking for strength—not in perfection but in presence.
Your story isn’t over. Let Shattered into Grace be your first step toward inner peace, emotional healing, and the salvation only God can provide.
- GenresNonfiction
249 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 21, 2025
4 people are currently reading
769 people want to read
About the author
Nicole Gibson
3 books6 followersNicole Gibson is an engineer and personal development advocate who brings a unique perspective to conversations about healing, identity, and spiritual growth. As a traumatic brain injury survivor with a background in biomechanical engineering, Nicole understands the intersection of physical recovery and emotional resilience—and she’s committed to helping others navigate their own journeys with grace and purpose.
Her mission is to empower young adults who feel stuck in survival mode, weighed down by trauma, toxic relationships, or spiritual uncertainty. Nicole shares faith-based insights that meet readers in the messy middle, guiding them toward inner peace, self-worth, and a deeper connection with God. Through transparent storytelling and practical encouragement, she invites others to stop striving for perfection and start living from a place of strength and surrender.
Nicole holds a degree in biomechanical engineering from Marquette University and an MBA with a concentration in project management from the Florida Institute of Technology. She has led complex supply chain and process-improvement projects for over a decade and is a graduate of the Ecolab Leadership Development Program. She is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt, a Core App (Smartsheet) certified professional, and an active member of the National Society of Black Engineers. Nicole also runs her own platform, Dynamically Crafted, where she shares blog posts, resources, and reflections on healing and faith.
Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Nicole currently lives in Illinois. She enjoys hiking, yoga, strength training, and her beloved pets. Her free time is filled with travel, community engagement, and faith-centered personal growth.
To connect with Nicole and explore more of her work, visit www.dynamicallycrafted.com.
Her mission is to empower young adults who feel stuck in survival mode, weighed down by trauma, toxic relationships, or spiritual uncertainty. Nicole shares faith-based insights that meet readers in the messy middle, guiding them toward inner peace, self-worth, and a deeper connection with God. Through transparent storytelling and practical encouragement, she invites others to stop striving for perfection and start living from a place of strength and surrender.
Nicole holds a degree in biomechanical engineering from Marquette University and an MBA with a concentration in project management from the Florida Institute of Technology. She has led complex supply chain and process-improvement projects for over a decade and is a graduate of the Ecolab Leadership Development Program. She is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt, a Core App (Smartsheet) certified professional, and an active member of the National Society of Black Engineers. Nicole also runs her own platform, Dynamically Crafted, where she shares blog posts, resources, and reflections on healing and faith.
Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Nicole currently lives in Illinois. She enjoys hiking, yoga, strength training, and her beloved pets. Her free time is filled with travel, community engagement, and faith-centered personal growth.
To connect with Nicole and explore more of her work, visit www.dynamicallycrafted.com.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 21, 2025
Shattered into grace, shares a journey of a young woman navigating through faith, and life after a traumatic brain injury. She shares pure strength, determination while piloting through life’s toxic obstacles while recovering from her trauma. This memoir is uplifting, and will be inspiring to anyone that has questioned their faith and gone through trauma. She shares her ability to get to the other side of the storm and it is possible.
August 31, 2025
I can’t wait to read her next book! This was so spiritually uplifting and encouraging. It felt amazing to hear about how God is so patient with all of us and just waits for us to come to Him or back again.
October 29, 2025
I originally purchased Shattered Into Grace to not only support a fellow author, but also because I was genuinely interested in how someone overcomes something as devastating as a traumatic brain injury. What I found was far more than a recovery story.
Nicole’s book is a deeply personal, faith-driven memoir written in plain, honest language. You get the feeling you’re sitting across from her, hearing the story over a cup of coffee. She doesn’t try to sound like a writer and I love that. She speaks with raw honesty about the physical, emotional, and spiritual toll of her accident. You’re taken by the hand and guided through her long, nonlinear road to healing without clinical jargon or self-pity.
You get to know her mom, her dad, her friends, and some cruddy boyfriends. She takes you into her dorm room and the office of a very poorly run chemical plant, intimately sharing encounters that have you rooting for her as she battles the odds. You come away with a deep sense of respect and admiration for her resilience. She shows you what it’s like to work your way through college, hold down an internship, and keep it together at a high-pressure job. Navigating your early twenties is hard enough. Now imagine doing all of that with a brain that’s glitching. Then imagine wondering where God is in the middle of it. That’s Nicole’s story. That’s what she was up against.
This is a story about the quiet courage it takes to keep going. Nicole doesn’t present herself as a hero or a victim—just a human being trying to make sense of suffering, love, loss, and her relationship with a God who sometimes feels far away. There’s something deeply comforting in hearing how others overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It gives you hope and a sense that we’re not alone in our struggles, whatever they might be. I’m grateful I read it, and grateful she had the courage to write it.
Nicole’s book is a deeply personal, faith-driven memoir written in plain, honest language. You get the feeling you’re sitting across from her, hearing the story over a cup of coffee. She doesn’t try to sound like a writer and I love that. She speaks with raw honesty about the physical, emotional, and spiritual toll of her accident. You’re taken by the hand and guided through her long, nonlinear road to healing without clinical jargon or self-pity.
You get to know her mom, her dad, her friends, and some cruddy boyfriends. She takes you into her dorm room and the office of a very poorly run chemical plant, intimately sharing encounters that have you rooting for her as she battles the odds. You come away with a deep sense of respect and admiration for her resilience. She shows you what it’s like to work your way through college, hold down an internship, and keep it together at a high-pressure job. Navigating your early twenties is hard enough. Now imagine doing all of that with a brain that’s glitching. Then imagine wondering where God is in the middle of it. That’s Nicole’s story. That’s what she was up against.
This is a story about the quiet courage it takes to keep going. Nicole doesn’t present herself as a hero or a victim—just a human being trying to make sense of suffering, love, loss, and her relationship with a God who sometimes feels far away. There’s something deeply comforting in hearing how others overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It gives you hope and a sense that we’re not alone in our struggles, whatever they might be. I’m grateful I read it, and grateful she had the courage to write it.
August 22, 2025
Shattered into Grace is one of those rare memoirs that you don’t just read, you feel it! From the very first page, Nicole Gibson shares her vulnerability and invites you into the raw and unfiltered reality of living with a traumatic brain injury. She doesn’t shy away from the disorienting, painful, and isolating aspects of recovery, yet her voice carries a strength that is nothing short of inspiring.
What touched me most was the honesty and the raw transparency of her life. So often, stories about healing never share the depth of the experience. Nicole’s story isn’t like that—it’s real. She lets you see the broken moments, the doubts, the fear, and then shows how grace threads its way through even the darkest seasons. Her faith is not presented as a quick fix but as a steady anchor, something she leaned on when everything else felt uncertain.
This book is more than just a memoir of survival—it’s a guide for resilience, a testament to faith, and a message of empowerment. For anyone who has endured invisible battles—whether TBI, mental health struggles, or simply seasons of feeling lost—you will find comfort and courage in these pages.
Nicole’s journey reminds us that healing is not about going back to who we were before but about becoming someone new, someone stronger, someone shaped by grace.
I highly recommend Shattered into Grace to survivors, caregivers, and anyone who needs a reminder that brokenness can give birth to beauty. It’s heartfelt, empowering, and deeply personal.
What touched me most was the honesty and the raw transparency of her life. So often, stories about healing never share the depth of the experience. Nicole’s story isn’t like that—it’s real. She lets you see the broken moments, the doubts, the fear, and then shows how grace threads its way through even the darkest seasons. Her faith is not presented as a quick fix but as a steady anchor, something she leaned on when everything else felt uncertain.
This book is more than just a memoir of survival—it’s a guide for resilience, a testament to faith, and a message of empowerment. For anyone who has endured invisible battles—whether TBI, mental health struggles, or simply seasons of feeling lost—you will find comfort and courage in these pages.
Nicole’s journey reminds us that healing is not about going back to who we were before but about becoming someone new, someone stronger, someone shaped by grace.
I highly recommend Shattered into Grace to survivors, caregivers, and anyone who needs a reminder that brokenness can give birth to beauty. It’s heartfelt, empowering, and deeply personal.
October 4, 2025
Kudos to Nicole Gibson for writing a compelling book about confronting unimaginable adversity with courage and perseverance. She is an engaging, uplifting, and transparent storyteller. Shattered into Grace will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end!
October 16, 2025
I received this book in exchange for my honest review. Here is that review:
This book was a good read. I did find myself sort of arguing mentally with the actions that the main character would take and a bit frustrated with them, but that is all part of reading a challenging book. It seemed extremely honest and open and vulnerable.
This book was a good read. I did find myself sort of arguing mentally with the actions that the main character would take and a bit frustrated with them, but that is all part of reading a challenging book. It seemed extremely honest and open and vulnerable.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews